Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success At Concord

The key component for success in almost anything is grit, according to Angela Duckworth, psychologist and a MacArthur “genius” grant winner. She recently published a book titled, Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success. The term applies to the idea that a crucial component for success in sports, education, careers, or even relationships is defined by one’s ability to stick to a goal once he or she has chosen it.

    Sarah Beasley, Director of Retention at the Academic Success Center, encountered this idea of grit during her studies at Harvard, and since then she has found a way to put it to good use at Concord. “One of the things we do now [during] freshmen orientation we give students a survey. It asks a lot of things—for their parents’ educational background, what their concerns are about college, what they are excited about. We also have the grit scale and then we also have a scale on academic confidence,” says Beasley. “The thought is that maybe students who are less gritty might need a little bit more support starting out, as for those who has less confidence…they need more support.” These findings are usually shared with each student advisor, so the advisor can direct the students to the help they need early on.

    These initiatives make sense because according to Duckworth, having a supportive but demanding parent or professor is a very important component in order for young people to develop their ability to stay inspired and focused. Duckworth names the following three main steps: first, identify a burning interest; second,  practice it a lot; and three, develop a sense of higher purpose; that is, believe your passion can change the world in some way.

    However, the key to starting on the road of becoming grittier is to make sure your brain is tuned to a growth mindset, or a belief that with practice your intelligence or physical performance can improve.

    It is possible to change your mindset from a fixed one (in which you believe nothing can change you) to one of growth, according to Beasley; and that is exactly what they try to achieve in the Academic Success Center. This can be achieved by teaching students about mindset theory or giving students readings on the brain’s processes, as it would help them to see that they can actually improve their skills if they set their minds to it. They need to be confident that hard work eventually pays off. “You just often hear students say, ‘I am not good at math,’ but with the right support and help and if the student works hard, I think students can really get better,” says Beasley.

    Tracy Luff, Director of the Honors Program at Concord University, deals with academically successful students all the time, and she agrees that Honors students are “definitely very motivated and they have characteristics of grit in terms of persistence.” Luff believes that the ability to work hard is key. “You can have a student, who is really bright, and things come easily to them, but they might not work that hard. On the other hand, you can have someone who may not have a talent or they may not be intellectually gifted, but they are willing to put in time and effort, they can progress,” says Luff. “You shouldn’t give up. If you don’t succeed the first time, it doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you, it just means there is more for you to learn.”

    Sarah Beasley has a couple of suggestions on how one can grow in determination. First of all, it is important to know that mindset type is contextual. If students who are not good with math see that in other areas of their lives they see real improvements while doing something they worked hard on, they could carry that over into math. Duckworth mentions

picking up music classes or a new sport just to develop the ability to stay on task, because once you figure it out in one area, you can transfer those skills to another area.

    Furthermore, increasing self-confidence could improve grittiness too. “Providing role models to show students that someone like them from the same background had succeeded would help. Sort of confronting these stereotypes head on,” says Beasley.

    Beasley believes that educating students on grit and growth mindset theory is important and that it helps students to succeed in college. “I think as new students come in and other students graduate, it is a good reminder for me that we need to keep doing it,” says Beasley.